Expand free school meals, because all keiki deserve to eat
SB 1300 would be an enormous step in the right direction, putting Hawaiʻi on a secure pathway toward ensuring all our keiki can achieve and thrive during the school day and throughout their lifetimes.
Child advocates, parents discuss bill to expand free and reduced meals for Hawaiʻi keiki
A community forum was held Saturday at McKinley High School to discuss a senate bill that would expand access to free and reduced-price meals for public school keiki.
Hawaiʻi County Council could join call for free school meals statewide
A resolution introduced by the council said that Hawaiʻi Island has the highest rate of food insecurity in the state, but the issue is statewide.
Governor Green enacts historic tax relief for working class
Taxpayers could see higher paychecks starting next year. However, the tax cuts raise concerns about how the state will manage to balance the budget in the years ahead.
Lawmakers are keeping pressure on DOE for school meal plans
Farmers and ranchers see an opportunity for ongoing collaboration.
Hawaiʻi legislature 2022: smart spending could help big problems
The legislature has money available for almost any policy initiative imaginable, and every member of the house and senate is up for reelection.
DOE leadership starting work on new 10-year strategic plan
With the DOE’s current plan due to sunset in 2020, it’s clear many academic success “targets,” such as reducing student absenteeism and increasing teacher retention, won’t be met.
Let’s Talk Food: School lunches in Hawaiʻi
The DOE is increasing local food in student meals as well as connecting our keiki with the ʻāina using local products from the agricultural community.
Hawaiʻi schools can’t seem to give breakfast away
Getting eligible students to eat free or reduced-price morning meals is more of a struggle in the islands than on the mainland.
Kamaile Academy wanted its kids to eat breakfast; here's how they made it happen
Most public schools in Hawaiʻi struggle to get kids to participate in school breakfast: Kamaile Academy seems to have found the solution.
Nutrition program earns award for Big Isle school
Kona Pacific Public Charter School was the first in the state to offer a universal breakfast program in 2014, with assistance from Hawaiʻi Appleseed.
Hawaiʻi’s child well-being 17th in latest national rankings
High housing costs remain a significant challenge in our state. When families spend so much of their income on housing, they have fewer resources to meet other basic needs.
Suit puts 88 more homeless students in school
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ordered the Education Department to revise enrollment forms and computer registration programs to better identify, track and service homeless students as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.
Homeless students can ride buses
The state will assist families to ensure they attend school.
Buses required for homeless students
The settlement requires the state to improve transportation to and from public schools for students living in shelters, cars or on beaches, as well as to improve programs to locate and identify children in need of such services.
DOE gets deadline to track homeless
The Feb. 19 order comes about a week after a judge sided with three homeless families who sued the state for allegedly failing to provide them an adequate education under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.
Children left behind
Homeless families sue the DOE for failing to educate their children in accordance with federal law.
Hawaiʻi violates equal-access law, ACLU says
The state violates a federal law that mandates equal access to education for homeless students by making them switch schools when they move and not letting them enroll in new schools without documentation, according to lawyers suing the school system.
Community Matters: Interview with William Durham of LEJ
Despite receiving federal monies, Hawaiʻi schools are turning homeless children away at the school house door, forcing them to change school multiple times in a single year, and denying them basic transportation services necessary to attend.